This week, HBO will release a documentary by Alexandra Pelosi (daughter of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) called The Trials of Ted Haggard. Haggard will also appear on Larry King Live and Oprah Winfrey’s show. He has done a two-part interview with U.S. News and World Report. Haggard’s is a sad story–the revelation that broke in 2006, the counseling he’s since received (which seems to have reinforced a victim mentality), and now his media blitz.
That’s what Patton Dodd is saying. Mr. Dodd was employed at New Life Church (where Haggard served as Senior Pastor) for eight years. Dodd observes:
“I was Haggard’s writer and editor for eight years, and I don’t know anyone who was not shocked that there was such a thing as a secret for him. Haggard’s double life was a searing revelation to his family, his church, and his closest friends.”
Dodd’s analysis:
“I was hoping — against hope — that The Trials of Ted Haggard would document his walking into the light. It doesn’t. It captures his attempt to reenter the limelight…..Anyone who cares about Haggard, as I do, must see this comeback as a continuation of his tragedy.”